Newly published data from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) show that number of people with diabetes continues to grow unchecked. The figures reveal that, if action is not taken to change the path of the epidemic, the numbers of people with diabetes will be close to 440 million by 2030. At a press conference held at the close of IDF's 20th World Diabetes Congress, President Jean Claude Mbanya of Cameroon voiced his concern at the figures.
"We have just released the dismal news that some 285 million people live with diabetes today. Our data show that the low and middle-income countries, where 4 out of every 5 people with diabetes will soon to be found, are bearing the brunt of the disease. The men and women most affected are of working age - the breadwinners of their families. Diabetes is now a development issue that threatens to undermine economies."(1)
(1) IDF Diabetes Atlas 4th Edition, International Diabetes Federation, 2009.
The elected President of the diabetes world, says that two burning issues in diabetes care will define his term of office. First, the need to ensure that people with diabetes receive the quality of care and informed instruction they need to best manage their disease and avoid its complications and, second, the need to stop people from developing diabetes in the first place.
The IDF President stressed the need to increase access to diabetes education so that people living with the disease can play an informed and central role in their own care. "From the global perspective, many people with diabetes can find themselves alone on a path that can lead them towards complications, depression and early death. We will need to increase awareness and deliver health education to make sure that diabetes is detected early and to make sure that the newly diagnosed are guided along a path of treatment and informed self-care that empowers them to avoid or delay the potentially devastating consequences of the disease."